Made in Mile End: Loukas Jeans on Fairmount

Eva Friede, GAZETTE STYLE EDITOR11.06.2013

Loukas Toliopoulos on the floor of his Mile End factory: “If the design team sits with the manufacturer from the get-go, they will be able to solve 95 per cent of the problems.”Dave Sidaway
/ The Gazette

Ilaria De Santo sorts jeans at the Loukas Jeans store on Fairmount St. W. The jeans are basic, with two cuts each for men and women, and retail for $134.95.Dave Sidaway
/ The Gazette

Loukas Toliopoulos is branching out into the jeans market with his new brand, Loukas Jeans.Dave Sidaway
/ The Gazette

MONTREAL — Made in Mile End: the phrase somehow sings, and that’s what Loukas Toliopoulos is banking on.

A lifelong Mile End resident and mechanical engineering graduate, Toliopoulos, 34, is designing, manufacturing and selling jeans in his neighbourhood. He opened a shop called Loukas Jeans on Fairmount St. W. this summer after many years in the planning — and with a small family factory for production.

The cotton is grown in the U.S. and woven in Texas. The jeans are sewn in a small factory on St-Viateur St., east of the hyper-trendy strip from Parc Ave. to St-Laurent Blvd. They are sold, exclusively for the moment, in the shop just a few blocks away.

The jeans are basic: two cuts each for men and women, two washes for men, three for women. Black denim should arrive any day. All retail for $134.95. Also in stock: Diamond Brothers shirts, also made in Mile End. Eventually, Toliopoulos hopes to showcase different local designers every season.

Toliopoulos’s project is, in a way, the ultimate conceit for a neighbourhood that prides itself on all things local. Heck, some residents even protested when Montreal success story David’s Tea set up shop on St-Viateur St.

But the project is also a microcosm that highlights the sweeping changes in the garment industry that occurred after Canada and members of the World Trade Organization lifted Chinese textile quotas in 2002 — and the current backlash.

The factory, Modes GML, had about 10 workers sewing away on a rainy day last week. They were making not jeans, but black trousers for Le Château, whose founder, incidentally, is the backer of David’s Teas. The retail chain is a loud and proud supporter of local production. The building is part of industrial Mile End’s brood of hulking concrete blocks, once a thriving part of the city’s garment trade, now being repurposed for offices and multimedia companies, with the city working to reserve affordable space for artists and designers. One tenant in the building, Frank & Oak, is a remarkable Montreal success story that shows another side of the changing fashion business: a menswear brand “imagined” in Mile End and sold only online.

Toliopoulos was raised in the garment industry, he said in the frankly dingy design room next to the factory floor. The factory, opened in 1995 by his father, was doing well, contracted by many Montreal-based retailers. But when the quotas were lifted at the start of 2002, all of them cancelled their orders (Le Château was not one of the original contracts) and Toliopoulos and father had to diversify.

“The only way we could sustain working here was doing mid to high end, and delivery was important,” he said.

An order made in Montreal can be shipped within one or two weeks depending on the quantity, he said; made-in-China goods need three months. The factory is small, with up to 12 workers at a time and a capacity of up to about 2,500 pieces a week. “I was always fascinated with denim — different washes with the same fabric can give you a completely different look, different style,” Toliopoulos said.

So 15 years ago, before the sea change in the textile business, he started planning his future in jeans by diversifying to weather the ups and downs of the fashion industry. He invested in real estate and, in 2010, opened the Café District — with menu advice from his caterer father-in-law, all to save up funds to get himself started. He says he loves that the café feels like home to him and his customers, and he plans to open more locations.

The district makes sense to Toliopoulos, and inspires him. He grew up on Esplanade, near Fairmount, lives in the area and likes its village-y vibe and the lack of a commute, which gives him more time with his family. Young local entrepreneurs are opening shops and cafés in droves, paying ever-increasing rents. And the adjacent industrial area is one of the few centrally located.

“There’s a lot of inspiration. I’m passionate about the history, too,” pointing out that St-Laurent Blvd. used to be textile central, and that when his mother was pregnant with him, she worked in the Peck Building, now home to Ubisoft.

Toliopoulos calls the design scene in Montreal good, but notes he has done the reverse of most designers, starting by making sure he has production in place.

“If something takes off, they have no means of meeting the demand,” he said, and might have to go abroad for production rather than keeping it local.

Eric Wazana, who runs the much larger Second Clothing brand, resorted to buying a factory in the Beauce to keep production local, a move Toliopoulos calls gutsy. Wazana, known for making Yoga Jeans, now does 100 per cent of his production there, with a capacity of 25,000 pairs of jeans a week if he runs two full shifts.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Wazana said of Toliopoulos’s project. “It’s proof there are people who care about buying local.

“It’s a fresh breeze.”

And the business plan is 100 per cent viable if Toliopoulos runs a tight operation, Wazana added, noting that $135 is the sweet spot in pricing for jeans. If you charge $200 and up, your market is too limited; under $100 and there are too many compromises on quality, he said.

The advantages of local production — aside from quality, fast delivery and supporting the local economy — is a question of mentality, Toliopoulos says. “Design, manufacturing and marketing — we do it at the same time, together.

“When I think of designing a jean, I have to make sure I can produce it. The jean that I am going to deliver has to be at a competitive price so I can sell it.

“If the design team sits with the manufacturer from the get-go, they will be able to solve 95 per cent of the problems.”

That said, Toliopoulos acknowledges that retail is not easy. “So far, so good.

“The first year I want to brand myself,’’ he said, adding he is hosting 5 à 7s and community events.

An online store is in the works for early 2014, as well as premium cotton Ts — quite extraordinarily, from a fabric mill in Montreal — for the shop.

Toliopoulos lives and breathes his business, and is clearly passionate about all of it.

“I still work in the factory,’’ he said. “I still physically sit down and sew the overlock. I personally like it; I don’t mind it. If need be, I do it. It’s not my main job. You have to know your matière from the get-go.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.